“However, eventually I’d realize that all of Mrs. Wellington’s wackiness, insane behavior, and slights about my weight—well, that’s all love. So in the words of the great singing legend Diana Ross, stop in the name of love, and come on up the hill… that second line isn’t actually in the song, but you get the general idea—”
“Hello there,” Madeleine interrupted. “I’m Madeleine Masterson, and while I don’t have a stepmother, I do have a stepgran. It’s my father’s stepmother, and, well, she’s lovely. I consider her to be my grandmother…”
Abernathy continued to stare at the group, much as one would if one didn’t speak their language. The man showed absolutely no signs of comprehension or emotion.
“We know you’re afraid of her, but she really can help you,” Garrison pleaded with Abernathy. “I know how hard that is to believe. Sometimes even I have trouble believing it myself, but it’s true… she’s helped all of us.”
“Abernathy,” Theo chimed in, “if I may, I’m going to tell you a little story, man to man—or as the Spanish say, mano a mano—”
“Theo, you do know that mano a mano actually means hand to hand, not man to man, as it is often misunderstood,” Madeleine explained. “So unless you’re planning on holding Abernathy’s hand, that is not the correct phrase.”
“Yeah, OK, let’s call off the whole mano a mano thing until we have some Purell—no offense Abernathy. And it’s not because you live in the forest that I don’t want to hold hands. It’s more to do with all the colds going around this time of year,” Theo rattled on uncomfortably. “Anyway, like I was saying, when I first arrived at Summerstone I wanted to leave, and on an express train, if you know what I mean. But then I got to know Mrs. Wellington, and then she faked her own death, and that really helped me. It disturbed me too… but it was useful… so basically, I think she could help you.
“I mean, aren’t you tired of eating twigs and bugs? Don’t you want to order take-out and watch cable television? It’s a great life… let us help you discover it. Why don’t you follow us up to the house for some tea and cookies, maybe even a little nap, because I don’t know about you, but I didn’t sleep well last night. By the way, I may have eaten multiple beetles yesterday, and it really freaked me out, and I don’t mean any offense by that if you eat beetles—because you live in the forest, what else are you going to eat?”
“Theo—” Madeleine attempted to stop him.
“… Maybe a squirrel, but I truly hope not, because they are pretty cute, not that cuteness should have anything to do with who lives or who dies, but let’s be honest it does, that’s why we step on spiders and not Chihuahuas…”
“Theo, let’s wrap it up,” Lulu said quietly.
“Anyway, you’re afraid… we’re afraid… it’s like camp, only really weird… and run by your stepmother who you are terrified of… but I think I speak for the whole group when I say we’re all a little terrified of her too. So what do you say?”
Abernathy continued to stare at them.
“Maybe we should just throw the tiramisu at him, to give him a taste of the good life,” Theo whispered to the others.
“Hey, I’m Lulu, and I think, of this group, I understand how you feel the most. My mother is more like an alien than a mom to me, and sometimes I wonder what I’m missing out on, what other people have… and it makes me sort of angry… at her… at life… and that’s OK. It’s OK to be scared or angry, but it’s no way to live forever. Let us help you.”
Abernathy stared at Lulu. For a second the words seemed to have penetrated; the man truly appeared ready to venture out of the forest. Then, in the blink of an eye, Abernathy was gone. And with him went the only chance of saving Mrs. Wellington and School of Fear.
CHAPTER 24
EVERYONE’S AFRAID OF SOMETHING:
Asthenophobia is the fear of weakness.
Darkness is not merely the absence of light, but the destruction of hope. Long before night fell, Madeleine, Lulu, Theo, and Garrison had been enveloped in absolute darkness. There was a sense that they had failed at the most important challenge of their lives; an unbelievable burden to carry before having finished puberty. But there they stood, staring at the trees, saying silent prayers that Abernathy would reappear while knowing that he wouldn’t. It wasn’t that they would never bounce back from this experience; they would. As time moved on, the pain of this failure would fade for each of them. This they knew, even at that moment. Although it wasn’t an articulate thought in their heads, they could feel it in their bodies.
One might think that this realization would lessen the pain of the moment; in fact, it only exacerbated it. There they stood with their lives ahead of them, while Mrs. Wellington’s life, almost entirely behind her, was sure to be destroyed. There was a tragic element to the entire scenario, from Abernathy to Mrs. Wellington, that simply couldn’t be ignored: two pained souls unable to mend.
Not long after 8:00 PM, comets of fireflies began to whip past the students. The realization that even if Abernathy returned they wouldn’t be able to see him forced the foursome into the SVT to return empty-handed to Summerstone. They were greeted by Macaroni and Schmidty at the front door. Schmidty didn’t ask if the mission was successful, for he knew it wasn’t. In fact he had known from the beginning that it wouldn’t be, that it was truly a mission impossible.
“Children, I have supper waiting in the dining room,” Schmidty said sweetly. “Macaroni has already eaten—you know how fussy he can be when hungry—but I’ve waited, as has Miss Hyacinth and Celery.”
“Oh, great,” Lulu moaned. “Just what we need: Hyacinth.” Stony-faced, she walked into the foyer, where she leaned on the table and waited for the others to filter in.
“Now, we mustn’t be rude, Miss Lulu.”
“Fine,” Lulu acquiesced, emotionally exhausted by her day.
“Schmidty, will Mrs. Wellington be joining us?” Madeleine asked hopefully as she closed the front door behind her. “I would very much like to tell her how much I respect her and that even though I’ve had a bit of a setback due in part to the double and triple B’s, she gave me such a gift this past year. While not cured, I lived an awfully normal existence. No one referred to me as the Veiled Wonder or Spraying Silly. I was simply Madeleine.”
“Oh, what lovely words. I shall pass them on to Mrs. Wellington, or if you would like, you may leave her a note. She’s taken to her bed and will not be able to say her goodbyes tomorrow when the sheriff comes for you.”
“What?” Theo asked. “That’s it? We’re going home? But we’re not ready! Maddie is seriously not ready—she’s wearing a shower cap!”
“I know, Mister Theo, but Madame is unable to teach anyone. Why, she’s currently unable even to leave her bed, and I am afraid I haven’t the skills or stamina to teach you all. But not to worry, your parents will be getting full refunds along with letters explaining the situation, so none of you will be blamed for a lack of progress.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” Garrison said despondently. “I’m really bummed out. I was hoping that one day I might actually be a surfer who surfed.”
“Yes, well, sometimes things don’t end as we want them to, but that mustn’t stop you from moving forward, charging toward life,” Schmidty said as he turned toward the Great Hall. “Let’s have a nice meal and talk of happy times to come.”
“We really can’t say goodbye to Mrs. Wellington?” Theo asked with tears in his eyes. “I don’t care if she’s bald and yellow and scary-looking…”
“I’m afraid not.”
Hyacinth was seated at the dining room table with Celery perched on her left shoulder. She nodded as Madeleine, Lulu, Garrison, Theo, and Schmidty entered and took their seats. As calm as she appeared on the surface, the young girl was utterly euphoric to be in the presence of people again, even if they were mad at her.
Schmidty had prepared a delicious dinner of salad, baked ziti, and garlic cauliflower, yet no one seemed able to do more t
han push the food around their plates.
“Dinner is most scrumptious, Schmidty,” Madeleine said politely as she forced a small bite of pasta into her mouth. “Absolutely delicious.”
“Yes, Celery and I find it very tasty,” Hyacinth said meekly, an opening that was immediately met by an angry glare from Lulu. It was simply too difficult for Lulu to hear Hyacinth’s voice without remembering what the little girl had done.
Theo put down his fork and started to cry. It wasn’t his usual dramatic fare, with gasps of air and rampant nose-blowing. This was a much more dignified and honest cry. In fact it wasn’t even a cry at all, more of a soft weep.
“I don’t feel right leaving you and Mrs. Wellington up here alone, rotting away until death finally drags you from this earth. That is not how you are supposed to spend your golden years, or platinum years, or whatever years you guys are in. Why don’t you come and live with me? Joaquin wants to get his own place anyway. You and Macaroni could bunk with me, and we’ll give Mrs. Wellington her own room. I swear my parents won’t even notice, there are already so many of us in the apartment.”
“You are such a sweet boy, Theo, and we appreciate the offer, especially Macaroni, as he longs to live near street vendors who drop bits of meat on the ground. But unfortunately we must decline. This is where Madame is most comfortable, and this is where we shall stay.”
“But what will you do without having a school to run and students to care for?” Lulu asked.
“I’m planning to take up knitting, perhaps make Macaroni some sweaters for the winter; you know how much Madame loves an animal in clothes.”
“That’s it? You’re just going to sit up here and knit dog sweaters?” Garrison asked in disbelief.
“I should think I’ll also make the cats some sweaters or scarves, and then a sweater for Madame, and finally a sweater or two for myself. After winter passes, I shall plant some vegetables, maybe try painting a portrait of Madame—in soft focus, of course.”
“But what about Mrs. Wellington? What will she do all day?” Madeleine asked.
“At first I suppose she’ll do nothing. She will remain a recluse in her room, but with time I expect she’ll venture out, try on her crowns, and attempt to relive her glory days with a few extra afternoon nips.”
“Will we at least be able to visit?” Theo asked hopefully.
“I should think not. I would prefer you to remember us as we’ve been, not as we’ll be,” Schmidty said forlornly. “But not to worry; should anything happen, the sheriff will keep you all informed.”
“So this is it? The last supper?” Theo said.
“Maybe the four of us could at least meet once a summer,” Madeleine suggested. “We could go to a nice dinner or a movie, or maybe even find a new school or camp to attend.”
Hyacinth stared at her plate, awkwardly aware of being left out of future plans. Of course, she really couldn’t blame them, after what she had done.
“Yeah, I guess,” Lulu said in response to Madeleine’s suggestion. “But it won’t be the same. It’s weird, because I never even thought I liked this place, and now all I want to do is stay.”
“I know,” Garrison agreed. “I’m really going to miss all of it. Mrs. Wellington, Schmidty, Mac, the cats, the house, and you guys. No one else will ever get what we did here… no matter how much I explain it… and I kind of don’t want to explain it, you know?”
“I completely know,” Madeleine said with a smile. “And Garrison…”
“Yeah, Maddie?”
“Well,” Madeleine said with cheeks as red as a beet, “since we’re leaving tomorrow, since it’s all ending, and we may not be in touch again, or at least not as often… I want to tell you… that I think you’re…” Madeleine suddenly stopped. She couldn’t quite bring herself to say what she wanted to, what she needed to. Instead she simply stared at Garrison, her heart aflutter and her palms sweating. In her mind she was screaming it, but her lips just wouldn’t move.
“I think you’re… too…” Garrison said with a wink.
Lulu, Theo, and Schmidty all smiled the kind of smiles that only friends can share. Hyacinth and Celery looked on curiously, with a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and unbridled envy. These were exactly the types of relationships, of friendships, Hyacinth had always tried to achieve. It was only as she looked at her classmates and the trust that existed among them that she realized they had all been right the night before. She really didn’t know a thing about friendship. Not one single thing.
CHAPTER 25
EVERYONE’S AFRAID OF SOMETHING:
Automatonophobia is the fear of wax statues.
Madeleine, Lulu, Garrison, and Theo didn’t sleep a wink. Sure, they all lay in bed silently, but none of them slept. They were far too busy absorbing every last ounce of Summerstone and School of Fear before it evaporated. They would never again see Mrs. Wellington, Schmidty, Macaroni, the cats, or the inside of this colossal and bizarre mansion. This was the end of an era, and an important one at that, and they didn’t want to sleep away a single second of it.
Nearby, Hyacinth too lay awake. The little girl simply couldn’t shake the sense of panic that was pulsing through her veins. She longed to sleep again on the floor of Madeleine and Lulu’s room, but she knew that was not to be. Aside from the others being outrageously angry at her, the one thing they all had in common was about to disappear. This strange school she had only just started to know was to fade away, and Hyacinth for her part would return to her life in Kansas City with her family. But she would return with her same problem. And her poor brothers, sisters, and parents would suffer. Hyacinth couldn’t bear the idea of her family not wanting to be with her but doing it out of obligation. No, Hyacinth thought, that isn’t the kind of relationship she wanted to have anymore.
By breakfast time Theo, Madeleine, Lulu, and Garrison were bleary-eyed and gloomy, dreading the final goodbye that was fast approaching. As the foursome sat exhausted at the dining room table, Hyacinth slipped out the front door of Summerstone in an orange pantsuit. With Celery firmly seated on her left shoulder, the young girl forced herself across Summerstone’s grounds. Twice she stopped and turned back. The idea of going down to the road alone made her vision blur with fear. But she knew it was the only hope of correcting what she had done.
Hyacinth began to whimper as the SVT rocked down the mountain. Time suddenly slowed to the speed of molasses as she felt her chest tighten. Drawing shallow and labored breaths, she stepped off the tram. Here she was, alone at the edge of a forest, just she and her ferret. Again Hyacinth turned and stepped back on the SVT. It was simply too hard. She couldn’t do it. She stood on the tram for thirty seconds. What to do? There was a battle raging in her mind, and she didn’t know who was going to win. Would her desire to change and right her wrong push past her wish to escape this overwhelming sense of panic? But would this feeling of panic, this force telling her to flee, actually stop if she returned to Summerstone? No, she would return as an outsider. Then she would go home as a burden. Hyacinth couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Hello!” Hyacinth whispered at the edge of the forest. “Hello, Abernathy?”
Nothing.
“I’m just a girl with a ferret on her shoulder. Don’t be afraid that you’re a little bit older. Just ’cause you live with the squirrels and the trees doesn’t mean I think that you have fleas. I’m not afraid that you may be weird. I just need you so I can be cleared. So what do you say? Will you join me today?” Hyacinth sang off-key.
While deciding what to try next, Hyacinth heard the unmistakable sound of leaves crackling.
“I wish you wouldn’t stop singing,” Abernathy said in the lightest, softest of voices from the edge of the forest.
“You like my singing?” Hyacinth asked with utter shock.
“Oh, it’s so lovely… like angels singing.”
“You are the first person in my entire life to compliment my singing. Thank you.”
“Thank you. Mus
ic is the one thing the forest lacks. I listen to the birds tweet and the wind move, but it’s not the same as a voice carrying those beautiful melodies into my mind.”
“I wish I had my harmonica! I’ve never had such a great audience before! You won’t believe how much better I am with a harmonica. Next year I’m asking for a guitar for my birthday. I’m going to start a one-woman band.”
“Oh, I do hope you come and serenade me.”
“Yes! That would be so awesome! Maybe we could even record it? Hyhy live from the forest!” Hyacinth said excitedly before she remembered the situation at hand. “Unfortunately, that won’t be possible. We’re all leaving. School of Fear is closing. Unless, of course, you agree to come back and give the school one more chance…”
“No,” Abernathy said unemotionally. “I can’t… I won’t…”
“You know, we’re not that different, you and I. You’re afraid to be with people, and I’m afraid to be without them. But in the end I think it has more to do with us than with them. Do you know what I mean?”
Abernathy didn’t say anything. He simply stared at the young girl.
“I promise, if you come back we can sing together every day. I may even let you into my band.”
“Do you have a record player? Those Knapps promised me a record player if I’d help them, but they never came through. I knew I shouldn’t trust people in matching sweaters.”
“If you come to the school and give it a try, I’ll do even better than a record player; I’ll get you an iPod.”
Class Is Not Dismissed! Page 15
